Neustar

General Information
Stakeholder Group:	Business
Type:	Domain Name Registry
Issue Areas:	DNS
Country:	USA
Founded:	1996
Headquarters:	21575 Ridgetop Circle Sterling, VA 20166
Website:	https://www.registry.neustar/
Twitter:	[@Neustar Twitter]

People

Charles E. Gottdiener, President and CEO Paul Lalljie, Senior VP and CFO Mark Bregman, Senior VP and CTO Scott Blake Harris, Senior VP and General Counsel Judy Song-Marshall, Director of Marketing, Registry Services Marco Bernardi, Director International Industry Relationships Fernando Espana, Sr. Mgr. Registrar Relations Asia Pacific & Latin America Becky Burr, Chief Privacy Officer and Deputy General Counsel Ted Prince, Senior VP of Media and New Ventures

Neustar is an information and analytics provider from Virginia, USA.

Neustar was founded in 1996 to meet the many technical and operational challenges that arose when the U.S. Government-mandated local number portability. Today, the company is a trusted, neutral provider of real-time information and solves challenges by offering data insights and intelligence for Internet, telecommunications, entertainment and marketing industries throughout the world.

Neustar has three defined business segments: Carrier Services, Enterprise Services, and Information Services. Neustar applies advanced, secure technologies in routing, addressing, and authentication to its customers’ data to help them identify new revenue opportunities and network efficiencies, as well as institute cybersecurity and fraud protection measures.

In December 2016, it was announced that the company was sold to a private equity firm, Golden Gate Capital for $2.9 billion.

With the selling of its registry in spring 2020, Neustar intensified its focus on providing security, marketing, risk, and communications services.

Registry

In April 2020, Neustar sold its registry to GoDaddy. Neustar had operated .us, .biz and .co and provided back-end registry services for .tel and .travel; gateway services to country code top level domains (ccTLDs); internationalized domain names (IDNs); and full registry services to new top level domains. Neustar's registry was reportedly connected to over 200 domain name registrars worldwide.

History

• 1996 - Neustar, then the Communications Industry Services unit within Lockheed Martin, won its original contract to provide local number portability services to select regions throughout North America. In 1997, it won the contract to become the official North American Numbering Plan (NANP) administrator.The NANP is a system of three-digit area codes and seven-digit telephone numbers that directs telephone calls to particular regions on a public switched telephone network. Thus, Neustar has assumed LNP responsibilities for all geographic regions throughout the United States and Canada as the operator of the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC). Neustar subsequently launched wireless number portability to much of the North American market in 2003.

• 1998 - Neustar successfully trialed number pooling at the state-wide level. Number pooling is a method of reallocating telephone numbers under the NANP, and it has created much more flexibility in the creation, usage and longevity of area codes and telephone numbers across North America. Neustar went on to win the contract for Number Pooling Administration in 2001; that agreement was renewed in 2007.

• 1999 - CIS was divested from Lockheed Martin and became Neustar after Lockheed Martin acquired COMSAT, a global telecommunications company. Lockheed Martin chose to spin off the unit because the acquisition created neutrality concerns for CIS's number administration and NANP functions.

• 1999 - Neustar and Australia-based MelbourneIT formed a new joint venture, NeuLevel to promote .biz internet domain name services under an ICANN bid. The joint venture, which has since been dissolved, was awarded the contract in 2000 to administer the name registry for the .biz domain. Today, Neustar is the sole registry operator for .biz. However, this was the first registry services contract win of its kind; Neustar subsequently won contracts to serve as the registry operator for the .us domain (2001; renewal in 2007); as the “registry gateway” operator for China's .cn and Taiwan’s .tw domains (2002); and as the registry operator for the .tel domain (2007).

• 2003 - Neustar acquired assets of NightFire Software, a standards-based service manager for the communications industry. It was the first of multiple strategic acquisitions which helped create Neustar's Order Management Services (OMS) clearinghouse. After subsequent acquisitions, Foretec Seminars became Neustar Secretariat Services (2005); UltraDNS became a Neustar service (2006); Followap, Inc. became Neustar Next Generation Messaging (2006); and Webmetrics became a Neustar service (2008).

• 2003 - Neustar (under contract with CTIA – The Wireless Association) announced the availability of five-digit Common Short Codes (CSCs), numeric codes to which text messages can be sent from a wireless mobile phone or phone-enabled device. CSCs are now in wide usage for such applications as television contest voting, coupon redemption, gaming, sweepstakes, and more. Six-digit CSCs made their debut in 2006.

• 2004 - Neustar announced the first major number portability initiative outside the United States, when it launched number portability in Taiwan.

• 2005 - Neustar became a public company on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker symbol "NSR".. They were named “IPO of the Year” by both Renaissance Capital LLC and Thomson Financial's International Financing Review. The IPO raised $605 million.

• 2005 - Neustar acquired Foretec Seminar which was later to be known as Neustar Secretariat Services. Neustar also Acquired Fiducianet, which provides law enforcement compliance and fraud management services to carriers, in the same year; and, thus, became the single largest provider of services involving subpoenas, court orders and law enforcement agency requests under electronic surveillance laws including CALEA, the USA Patriot Act, and the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

• April 2006 - Neustar acquired UltraDNS, a global industry leader in providing managed domain name systems (DNS) and directory services based in Reston, VA. Today, Neustar UltraDNS Services are integral in directing and managing Internet traffic, enabling thousands of customers to control and distribute that traffic. The acquisiton cost $61.8 million in cash.

• November 2006 - Neustar acquired UK-based instant-messaging service provider Followap for $139 M.. Today, Followap is known as Neustar Next Generation Messaging (NGM).

• September 2007 - Neustar and ClearTech, a telecommunications service provider company, jointly won a contract for number portability in Brazil. Today, this implementation ranks as the second largest of its kind in the world (after the USA), and as Neustar's second major international number portability initiative (after Taiwan in 2004).

• January 2008 -- Neustar bought WebMetrics, a San Diego-based company which provides SaaS and website testing and monitoring services, for $12.5 million. Today, Webmetrics is a Neustar service that provides collaborative performance management services for complex web ecosystems.

• September 2008 - Neustar and GSM Association, the global trade organization for mobile operators, signed an agreement to offer Root Domain Name System (DNS) services to more than 680 global GSM mobile operators. Their collaboration resulted in the PathFinder number resolution system. PathFinder simplifies the transmission of instant messages, MMS, emails, video and other Internet Protocol (IP)-based communications between mobile phones and between mobile and fixed-line phones. Today, Neustar operates the PathFinder service on behalf of the GSMA.

• 2008 - Neustar participated in Cyber Storm II, the largest multinational online security exercise ever, which was organized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The goal was to examine security preparedness and response capabilities across a variety of infrastructure functions including information technology, communications, and transportation systems and assets.

• January 2009 - Neustar announced an amendment of its telephone number portability contracts. The amended contract not only provided Neustar with predictable revenues for the following several years, but also promised to spur innovation by encouraging the industry to use additional fields and functions in the NPAC to facilitate tomorrow’s IP-based routing services.

• 2009 - Neustar ranked #17 on Forbes Magazine’s annual “25 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies” list.

• 2010 - Neustar announced Lisa Hook’s appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer. The acquisitions of BrowserMob, LLC, a leading provider of load testing and monitoring services, and Quova, Inc., a global leader in IP geolocation services, allowed the company to expand services to help online businesses optimize their web presences and also detect and prevent fraud, ensure regulatory compliance, manage digital content rights distribution and localize ads and web content.

• 2011 - Neustar acquired the assets and certain liabilities of the Numbering Solutions business of Evolving Systems, Inc., which furthered the company’s long-term initiative to simplify operators’ OSS architectures. Neustar also completed the acquisition of TARGUSinfo, a leading provider of real-time, on-demand information services, including Caller ID. Additionally, President Barack Obama appointed Lisa Hook, Neustar’s President & CEO, to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC).

• February 2012 - Neustar announced a partnership with the National Small Business Association to promote the .biz extension to members of the organization. The goal is to see more small businesses create an online presence to compete in a market that largely favors online stores and businesses.

• July 2015 - Neustar acquired Bombora Technologies, including its subsidiary, ARI Registry Services, for AUD $118.5 million, or approximately USD $86.9 million. ARI Registry Services provides registry services for a number of TLDs. Their portfolio includes .au, .melbourne, .sydney and over 100 new TLDs. After this acquisition, Neustar expanded its registry services to include over 300 new TLDs.

Products and Services

According to its official website, the services Neustar provides are divided into Carrier Services, Enterprise Services, and Information Services.

Carrier Services include Numbering Services such as local number portability services, international LNP (Taiwan and Brazil), number administration, legal compliance services, order management services and IP Services such as GSMA pathfinder, converged messaging, multimedia interconnect services, and other carrier services.

Enterprise Services include Internet infrastructure-related services such UltraDNS, Webmetrics monitoring and load testing, IP Geolocation services, and registry services for registries, U.S. Common Short Codes, etc.

Information Services provide enterprises with a diverse portfolio of real-time information and analytics services, across multiple touch points. Neustar provides secure on-demand caller identification, verification and scoring services under the TARGUSinfo brand name; local business listings under the Localeze brand name and online audience targeting solutions under the AdAdvisor brand name.

Throughout 2011 and 2012, Neustar has been showcasing their newest Mobile and Intelligent Cloud Services, these include services for financial institutions and mobile app developers.

My Digital Life

January 2012 - Neustar announced that it was partnering with EverFi, Inc., a leading education technology company, to implement a digital literacy program for students across the state of Kentucky. The latter organization developed the program, which is an interactive, new-media driven course aimed at 8th and 9th graders. The program covers topics from privacy, security, cyberbullying, digital relationships, and digital addiction and the curriculum also focuses on building specific digital skills, such as creating a blog, maintaining a responsible social networking profile, and evaluating online research sources for legitimacy. Neustar emphasized that this is one way in which they are acting on their firm commitment to science, technology, engineering, and math education.

The program expanded to California on October 24th, 2012, beginning in Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School in San Francisco. It is now available to schools throughout California, with 55 schools signed up at the date of the launch. It is also currently active in Virginia.

Finances

The following information details Neustar's 2012 finances, as compared to the prior year:

• Revenue increased 34% to $831.4 million
• Income from continuing operations increased 26% to $156.1 million or $2.30 per share
• Adjusted net income increased 30% to $206.4 million, representing a margin of 25%
• Adjusted earnings per share increased 43% to $3.04
• Adjusted EBITDA was $398.2 million compared to $298.7 million

Information on 2011 finances:

• Revenue: US$620,500,000
• Operating income: US$ 209,024,000
• Net income: US$ 160,823 ,000
• Total assets: US$ 1,382,638,000
• Total stockholders’ equity: US$ 502,634 ,000
• Employees Approx 1,500

Information on 2010 finances:

• Revenue: US$ 526,800,000
• Operating income: US$ 175,521,000
• Net income: US$ 106,207,000
• Total assets: US$ 733,864,000
• Total equity: US$ 596,112,000
• Employees 1,040

Awards

• 2005 - The IPO research committee at Renaissance Capital recognized Neustar with its"IPO of the Year" award.

• 2006 - Neustar won "Frost & Sullivan: North American Technology Innovation" Award, Internet Telephony Magazine's "Top 100 Voices of IP Communications" award , ranked #37 on Deloitte "Technology Fast 50" Awards (Virginia), Northern Virginia Technology Council's "Hot Ticket" Awards, Northern Virginia Technology Council's 2006 Greater Washington Technology "CFO of the Year" Awards, ranked #28 on BusinessWeek's "Hot Growth Companies 2006" , and others.

• 2007 - Neustar won "Public Company CFO Of The Year" Award in the 11th Annual Greater Washington Technology CFO Awards.

• 2009 - Neustar is ranked number 17 in Forbes Magazine’s annual "25 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies" list.

• 2012 - The Washington Business Journal ranked Neustar in its list of the top 40 healthiest employers of Greater Washington, D.C..

New gTLDs

On June 11, 2012, Alex Berry, Senior Vice President for Enterprise Services, announced that the company secured 358 contracts with gTLD applicants to serve as their back-end registry provider. It was previously reported that the company announced its willingness to accept multiple applications for the same strings, which may have positively influenced its high number of applications. Its largest competitor, Verisign, secured 220 contracts.

.neustar Brand gTLD

Neustar is one of the largest registries involved in New gTLD registry and consultancy services, but in June 2011 it became the only one that was publicly pursuing its own Brand TLD, that is, .neustar. According to Mark Pilipczuk, VP of Corporate Marketing & Communications, the .neustar TLD will increase consumer awareness of the company as a premier provider of real-time information and analytics. He also said that the company will probably create service-specific domains name such as dns.neustar or siteprotect.neustar.

.green gTLD

The DotGreen Registry Corporation, applying for the .green gTLD in ICANN's new gTLD program, has partnered with Neustar for its registry back-end and DNS needs.

.site gTLD

Neustar partnered with UrbanBrain, a Japanese gTLD consultancy and policy development firm and a subsidiary of Interlink Co., Ltd, to provide backend registry solutions and to submit applications for major Japanese companies interested in operating their own Brand gTLDs. The first announced gTLD to be announced from the partnership was .site.

.gay Community gTLD

dotgay LLC selected Neustar to provide back-end registry services for the proposed .gay Community TLD.

Partnership with TLDH

In June 2011, Antony Van Couvering, CEO of TLDH and Minds + Machines, announced its partnership with Neustar to provide back-end registry services for some of its proposed geographical TLDs such as .bayern, .berlin, .mumbai etc. Van Couvering acknowledged Neustar's track record and capability in providing registry solutions, financial resources and outstanding customer service.

.nyc Geo TLD

The New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) partnered with Neustar to manage and operate the .nyc TLD. According to DoITT, under the agreement the city government will earn 40% from the total revenue that will be generated from .nyc TLD, with the estimated minimum income for the initial five-years at $3.6 million. Neustar is also responsible for paying the $185,000 ICANN application fee as well as the post application fees and the $25,000 annual fee.

.health gTLD

DotHealth, LLC confirmed that Neustar will provide the back-end registry solutions for the .health TLD. It will also use the Neustars threat mitigation and compliance monitoring services to prevent distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to ensure safety and security of the .health domain name space.

New gTLD Program Input

Reaction on Batching Process (Digital Archery)

In June 2012, Becky Burr, Neustar's Deputy General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer, wrote to ICANN regarding the company's position on the implementation of the Digital Archery batching process for the initial evaluation of new gTLD applications. In her letter, Burr said that Neustar is supporting the position of other companies, requesting for a brief delay of the batching process. Burr pointed out that implementing batching as scheduled, prior to publication of the actual list of applications, will only create losers and winners and complicate the situation in ways that might prevent the development of a better resolution. She also emphasized that a brief delay would enable ICANN to review the facts and the suggested alternatives presented by the affected community. Burr said, "We believe that there is ample time between now and ICANN's meeting in Prague to analyze the facts and to determine a course of action based on informed community input. Accordingly, Neustar urges a brief pause to review the need for "batched" consideration of new gTLD applications and if such batching is indeed necessary, to fine-tune the program in light of actual applications."

Trademark Clearinghouse Model

In October 2012 a coalition of the world's most prominent registries, Neustar, ARI Registry Services, Verisign and Demand Media jointly proposed two models for the mandatory new gTLD Sunrise period and Trademark Claims service involved in the Trademark Clearinghouse that differ from ICANN’s. To excerpt their letter:

"This proposed model simplifies the ICANN model by decreasing the coupling between the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) and registries. The model is as follows:

1. The TMCH generates and maintains a global public-private key pair and provides the public key to the registrars and registries. This can be done simply by publishing the public key on the TMCH website. This website should be provided over HTTPs using a digital certificate from a reputable certificate authority. The DNS records associated with this website should be protected using DNSSEC. We believe that there are no issues with security of the public key and anyone in the world can have access to it.
2. Once the TMCH has authenticated the trademark information provided by the trademark holder, and validated the use requirements for eligibility to participate in sunrise, the TMCH signs the sunrise (trademark) data with its private key. The digitally signed information is referred to as the ‘Signed Mark Data’ (SMD) and is provided to the mark holder. Typically, this would be in the form of a file download from the TMCH website. The SMD includes all of the domain labels (domain names) possible to be used in registrations for the validated trademark (IDN variants excluded).
3. As each TLD begins its sunrise phase, the mark holder selects a registrar and provides the registrar with the SMD as part of an application for a name within the applicable sunrise period. The registrar (or its reseller) has the ability, if it chooses to, to validate the information using the TMCH public key and then forward the information to the registry to create the application.
4. The registry verifies the signature of the SMD with the public key and verifies that one of the labels within the SMD matches the domain label being registered. The registry may also then verify any other information in the SMD to ensure it is consistent with the registry’s sunrise eligibility policies. The application, or domain name, is then created.
5. At the closure of the sunrise round, the registry operator will then make allocations of domain names.
6. The registry notifies the TMCH of the registered domain names for the purpose of notifying mark holders about the fact that a name was registered that matches their mark as well as reporting purposes. These notices will be referred to as ‘Notification of Registered Name’ notices (NORN). We believe that a daily upload of registered names to the TMCH is sufficient for the purpose of generating NORN notices.

This solution also works for those that are conducting ‘first come – first served’ style sunrise processes."

External links

• Neustar
• Neustar Registry

Top-Level Domain

Internationalized Domain Name